Her Retribution
by storytell18
Summary: Final entry in the "Betrayed, Cast Off, Angry" saga. Two years after Raven's mysterious departure, the demoness must return to Titans Tower when she becomes a prime suspect in a murder case very close to the Titans. Rated T for violence, language, and suggestive material.
1. Her Disappearance

**Author's Notes**

Okay, I know I had originally said that _The Dark Army_ and _Second Chance _would be the final entries in the _Betrayed, Cast Off, Angry_ saga - don't call me a liar as you should know by now that I am prone to changing my mind about creative ideas during my stories. However, even before I finished _Second Chance_, I had been toying for a while about another entry, and now I think I have figured it out with this story, the true finale of the saga, titled _Her Retribution._

It takes place about three years after the events of _The Dark Army_ and firmly follows that story's timeline, not the alternate scenario timeline that was _Second Chance _and hopefully will resolve all the blanks from its predecessors, wrapping up all loose ends, with some of these including the identity of Fox and more of an explanation behind the Wilsons' resurrections. And much like the former, this will be a mystery/crime story with elements of fantasy and sci-fi. Though, this story will ultimately feel a bit more like _NCIS_ than _NCIS: Los Angeles_ (which was ultimately more akin to the tone of _The Dark Army_).

And as for _Second Chance_, I have toyed with the idea of doing a one-shot series detailing the lives of Raven & Slade as well as the Titans (like rewritten versions of the episodes _Switched_ and _Date with Destiny_). Whether or not I ultimately pick up on that idea, we'll have to wait and see if my inspiration comes to me for that particular story.

I will post the chapters up in batches of three or four chapters at a time, and I will respond to all reviews in a batch in the next batch.

Now, let's begin the story.

* * *

><p>It's been about five months since Vandal Savage was defeated, condemned to hell for eternity for his war crimes as a result of his association with the People's Redemption Army.<p>

Most high-ranking members of the militia had been captured, except for the number two figure, Fox, who had yet to be found. The Titans were no longer certain that Fox even existed, as most of the operatives they apprehended reported never seeing Fox. However, they wouldn't give up as they figured they lied.

However, victory against the PRA came at a heavy price for the Titans - Bumblebee lost one of her legs in an attack by Kyd Wykkyd, Savage's right-hand man and assassin. The same attack also did severe damage to Gizmo, but he was expected to pull through, albeit never being able to walk again.

Unfortunately, during Gizmo's recovery from surgery, he suffered a severe cardiac arrest from hidden poisons inside of Wykkyd's bullets, and he died of his wounds, leaving Jinx, Bumblebee, and Ravager as the only surviving members of the HIVE Academy, as most of them lost their lives to Wykkyd over the course of three years. Cyborg didn't count as he wasn't enrolled as Cyborg, but rather as "Stone".

Taking the tiny genius's place on the Titans Tango team were Raven's "kids", Melvin, Timmy Tantrum, and Teether, having become old enough to leave the monastery in Bucharest they had lived in for the past few years.

The Titans Central team, led by Raven, now consisted of the original members Raven, Kid Flash, Jinx, Hustler, Ravager, and Omen, the latter becoming a ward of the Titans after the death of her parents at the hands of Kyd Wykkyd.

It was a normal day as usual, with Raven getting a cup of herbal tea to start off, watching the sunrise and seeing if there were any threats they had to handle or any crime scenes to investigate.

In the three years since the Titans Central team had formed, they had taken down most of the city's meta-human criminal element along with regular Titans foes as Adonis, Control Freak, Mad Mod, and Johnny Rancid.

Soon joining Raven out in the ops room of the Tower was Ravager, Raven's second in command. She asked, "What's up boss?"

Raven replied, "Nothing, actually. Crime's been way down since Savage's defeat, almost as if he was controlling the city. A year ago, we'd have to deal with five crimes a week. Now, it's not even one a week. Things have been slow lately, and while I hope that this is a good thing, it could also mean that the criminal element is planning something big."

"I think they aren't planning anything. Informants in the remaining members of the Cabresa say the don's got nothing planned. He's focused on stopping the bleeding after we busted his operations." Two months earlier, the Jump City Mafia, the Cabresa, were trying to smuggle in six tons of ecstasy to sell on the black market, but the team intercepted the operation and seized the drugs, which was a crippling financial loss to them.

"That better not happen. They've been on the decline for some time, they'll probably be out of money in a year. They'll be forced to act and we'll catch them and shut them down once and for all."

"They won't be able to buy off any more lawyers or judges. We'll have successfully defeated the mob. Doubt Batman could say the same."

"Yeah, though the mob he faces is much more deep-rooted than the Cabresa. Carmine Falcone holds a tight grip on Gotham."

"Maybe if crime has officially stalled, we could go and bring down Falcone."

"That's an idea, if Batman allows us in Gotham. He's got the rule that keeps the League out of Gotham, and that likely extends to the Titans."

"True, but he doesn't have to know it's us."

"Aside from Grant, it'd be pretty damn hard to keep him from figuring we were there. You've got your katanas, Wally his speed, Nirupama her hexes, and my soul-self sticks out like a sore thumb. So, we probably would get compromised the second he hears about it."

"Good point."

Raven turned around and moved towards Ravager, who had changed quite a bit during her time with the Titans. The only daughter of the infamous mercenary Deathstroke the Terminator, she wore a modified bandana that enabled a ponytail to stick right out the back while the black and orange front covered her eyes and the top of her face from being exposed. Her uniform was a dark blue jumpsuit that covered her arms, torso, legs, and neck with light orange latex gloves covering her hands and black combat boots on her feet.

On her back were two katanas, her traditional armaments, but they had been modified. Normally two blades of Japanese steel, they still were the blades, but they could now activate a light blue sheathing around them, which greatly changed their dynamics - they could now cut through almost anything, with the exception of human flesh, something that was frequently for the better as the Titans didn't want to get charged with homicide.

As the two stood in the ops center, Jinx and Kid Flash, who had become engaged a month ago, walked right into the room. Their wedding was scheduled for early next summer, a few months after the double wedding of Beast Boy and Terra as well as Jericho and Kole, which was within the month.

Jinx asked, "What's up boss?"

Raven replied, "Nothing, actually. Almost no criminal elements remain in the city. We've done our jobs."

Following them was Omen, the Titans' ward. Gifted with precognition, Omen, birth name Lilith Clay, was the daughter of one of the Titans' biggest sponsors, businessman Loren Jupiter, but given up for adoption when Jupiter realized he could not be a father. Now a part of the Titans, Raven has been instructing Omen how to better utilize her precognitive ability, often having her spar with Ravager, who also had her own modest precognitive ability (courtesy of the serum that ran through her blood) to see how one could predict the moves of the other. In addition, Raven also taught Omen basic psionic skills, giving her empathy (though not quite as strong as Raven's), telepathy (which she can do in moderation without being invasive), and telekinesis, plus teleportation with a thirty foot range. They were also training her to become the new coroner, performing autopsies on murder victims.

All in all, Omen was proving herself to be a valuable asset to the team, managing to attend both high school and be a part-time Titan, ultimately helping the Titans Central locate the Cabresa's aforementioned smuggling operation.

Lastly joining the Titans was Hustler, one of Slade's sons (the other being Jericho, a member of Titans North) Grant Wilson, formerly known as Red X. The technological and gadget expert of the team, he carried enough firepower to keep enemies suppressed and equipment to mess with their computers and tech.

They were the most effective branch of all the Titans, which says something given the skill sets of the other five teams.

Once the Titans were all in the room, they sat down to discuss business and have breakfast. Grant and Omen, who proved themselves the best chefs on the team (Omen having learned a lot of cooking from Hustler), prepared challah bread French toast with blueberry syrup and cream cheese icing.

After taking a bite of breakfast, Raven began, "Okay, any progress on finding Fox? Or discovering if Fox truly existed?"

Omen replied, "I know you think I say this too often, but..."

Raven finished her sentence, "...Fox does exist but is hiding. What we need to find out is where Fox is hiding."

"Well I don't think Fox will be coming out for a while. I'm not getting a sense of him coming in the near future." Thanks to Raven's training, Omen could successfully see visions up to two months in the future, but more long-term predictions would come as full-out premonitions that struck her at random.

After taking a few bites out of breakfast, Jinx pondered, "You think Savage knows?"

Raven answered, "Obviously he does. But he's been refusing to give up Fox's identity, regardless of what he's being put through. And I doubt we have enough against him to force him to spill."

Hustler added, "I checked all the security feeds of the main PRA base, Lord Porter's Way, and everywhere else they may have met. From what little video we were able to recover, none showed Fox's face clearly. They went through a lot of trouble to conceal their identity."

"Figures, since they were operating in secrecy. They had a lot of time to delete the records."

Following Ravager's remark, Kid Flash said, "Doubt we'd even have a chance to access them."

Suddenly, before they could continue discussion, the alarm klaxon rang out, signaling that there was trouble. Hustler accessed the computer feed to see who was responsible, and he said, "Erik the Pirate is looting the marina." As most of the existing Titans foes were defeated or dead, new foes started to take their place, one of these was Erik the Pirate, a twentysomething sailor who had become embroiled with piracy, hijacking a yacht to use as his pirate ship, attacking vessels all across the southern California coastline. And despite all of their attempts to stop him, he may have ended up emptyhanded but never in prison.

Raven responded, "Flash, take the T-Boat with Jinx and Omen. Ravager, Hustler, with me."

* * *

><p>Out at sea, or rather the Jump City Docks, Erik the Pirate was bombarding ships and the docks alike with his yacht, which contained twelve sixty millimeter cannons on the sides and a triple 158 millimeter cannon on the bow. His crew down below manned each cannon as Erik stared in awe as ships took heavy fire. Erik, with his long blond locks (tied neatly in a ponytail), blue trenchcoat with a black vest and trousers, took a look through his high-tech monocle, remarking, "Ain't it a pretty sight? Come on boys, loot the ships!"<p>

Before the crew could proceed any further, a volley of blue energy rounds stopped the yacht right in its tracks. Erik the Pirate turned around to see the T-Boat right on its tail. The T-Boat was a heavily modified sailboat that was designed to run on either the wind or on a plasma engine. It had a series of mines on the stern it could plant to take out incoming enemies and a high-tech navigation system to plot their course and track down targets. On the bow, it had double cannons which could launch red explosive, green flare, yellow stun, or blue EMP rounds.

Having disabled Erik the Pirate's ship, Raven, Hustler, and Jinx appeared on the yacht, standing right behind Erik as he turned around. Raven smirked, "Ready for a walk in Davy Jones's Locker?"

Erik replied, "Nigh! All hands on deck. Titans are here!"

The crew members quickly climbed up on deck, many of them carrying swords or OA-93 machine pistols. Many crew members began opening fire on the three Titans only for Raven to put up a shield to block the .223 Remington shells.

Ravager tossed Raven a cutlass as she drew her own two katanas while Hustler pulled out a UMP45 submachine gun. Raven dropped the shield and Ravager and Hustler went after the crew while Raven pursued Erik.

Hustler squeezed off a couple of shots at the pirates' guns, removing them from their hands, several of said guns falling overboard. Ravager then encased her swords in blue glow and sliced through the remaining swords and guns, disarming all of the crew members.

While some of the crew members ultimately surrendered, others went up with their fists to take down the two Titans. A few of them made it up to Ravager and Hustler, but they easily beat them back in fisticuffs. Most of the rest were taken down by a stun round fired from the T-Boat.

With the crew down, it was Raven against Erik. While he seemed like he was an ordinary human, Erik wouldn't go down easily as he was well-armored and well-armed.

With two energy blasters resembling flintlocks, he opened fire on Raven, forcing her on the defensive, as from past experience, Raven knew that the energy blasters were much tougher than most projectiles she had faced.

Embuing her cutlass with white energy, Raven took a swing at Erik and split his flintlock blasters in two, forcing him to ditch them as he pulled out a rapier, swinging it against Raven's, the sharp energy-slicing edge matching Raven's empowered cutlass.

Now in an old school swordfight, Raven began to press forward against the swashbuckling criminal, trying to finally capture him after his string of raids.

However, Erik would not go down easily and jumped further away from Raven, forcing her to follow as he proceeded to then ambush her with another one of his toys.

Raven was instantly forced onto the ground, holding her ears in pain as Erik remarked, "It was designed to induce paralysis, but knowing your demon physiology, it just emits a very painful noise. And now, for the big surprise."

Suddenly, he pulled out another device and pressed the big black button on it, resulting in six of the cannons proceeding to rotate themselves right towards the deck where Ravager and Hustler were standing while the others aimed right at the T-Ship. Erik continued, "Say goodbye to the Titans. None of them will be able to escape a barrage of sixty millimeter cannon fire, especially those at point blank range."

However, before they could be blown away by Erik pressing the trigger, a long lost problem resurfaced in Raven - the Rage that she thought had vanished upon her becoming White Raven had returned.

In the blink of an eye, Erik was blown right off of the yacht, falling into the ocean and sinking, and sinking. Raven could only stare as the control she believed she had vanished before her very eyes.

Before the other Titans could confront her, Raven engulfed herself in soul-self and vanished from sight.

Upon her departure, Hustler hopped onto the T-Boat and equipped himself with a diving suit, which had been designed to withstand the impact of water up to half a mile below the water.

It took him four minutes before he surfaced with what remained of Erik the Pirate. The Titans could only stare at how mutilated the body was, missing both of his hands, everything below his right knee, part of his left foot, and his face looked as if someone took a razor to it repeatedly and slashed it.

Returning to the Tower to confront Raven, the Titans were disturbed at the note they found. It said, _"Titans, for three years I believed my emotions were no longer a problem, as my demonic father was dead. Now I realize I was a fool, and that hellish influence still resides. I am taking a leave of absence and will try to flush out the rest of my 'rage issues' in my Infernal Province. When, or if I return remains uncertain. Until the day comes that I do return, if it does, Rose will replace myself as team leader of Titans Central, and Garfield my place as the overall commander of the Titans. It has been an honor, now and always, Raven."_

Upon reading the note, Jinx asked, "Lilith, you think Rae's comin' back?"

Omen responded, "I don't know. We'll have to wait to see how things turn out."

* * *

><p>It had been two years since the Titans Central had received the note, and Raven still had not returned. Had she returned, she would not be facing charges for Erik the Pirate's death, as the Titans ultimately chose to file it as self-defense, as Erik was close to killing them all, and Raven's actions were classified as justified.<p>

Beast Boy, who had assumed control over the Titans as a whole in Raven's absence, married Terra soon after and had a daughter - Coraline Jessica Logan. Kole and Jericho soon followed, and Kole was now expecting a baby boy within the next four months. Jinx and Kid Flash married a few months later, though by that time Jinx was already pregnant with Kid Flash's child, whom they ultimately names Prachi Iris West.

Aside from the weddings, the most prominent change to the Titans was the addition of a seventh team focused out of Happy Harbor, Rhode Island - the Young Justice team organized by the Justice League for their proteges to get valuable experience and run some of the black ops the Titans couldn't run. As for the name, Young Justice was one of the rejected names for Teen Titans when they were first formed, so given the nature of the team, that name simply was the best choice. The team consisted of Conner Kent, aka Superboy (Superman's half-human clone), Megan Morse, aka Miss Martian (Martian Manhunter's "niece"), Greta Hayes, aka Secret (the spirit of a deceased girl and apprentice to the Phantom Stranger), Cissie King-Jones, aka Arrowette (Green Arrow's sidekick) and leader of the team, Jamie Reyes, aka Blue Beetle (the third incarnation of the hero after his predecessor, Ted Kord was recently assassinated), and Tim Drake, the new Robin.

When it was announced that Robin was joining the team, the Titans were initially concerned as the previous Robin succumbed to his obsessive tendencies and became a serial killer named Claw. However, Batman assured them that Tim wouldn't suffer the same problems that Richard had, though he had yet to tell Tim about the true fate of his predecessor.

In the Titans West team, Argent and Hot Spot had hit a bit of a rift and broke up a year ago, with Hot Spot transferring to Titans South, replacing Wildebeest on the team. Aside from fighting crime in Asia and Oceania, most of their black ops duties were transferred to the Young Justice team.

On the Titans South team, aside from the transfer of Hot Spot and Wildebeest, nothing seemed much different than before. They continued to fight crime in Latin America, but many of their espionage duties had been transferred over to the Young Justice team.

Over on Titans Tango, the team still hadn't fully gotten over the Kyd Wykkyd attacks that claimed the life of Gizmo and permanently crippled Bumblebee. The leader of the team now had a prosthetic leg designed by Cyborg that enabled her to walk, but as a result, she was no longer able to shrink down to bee-size, as the new leg could not adapt to that ability. Tramm meanwhile had managed to take English lessons and renamed himself Lagoon Boy, while the "kids" were training to be combat ready, and Melvin was officially now on the field for a few months now.

At Titans East, Coraline had ultimately inherited her mother's geomancer abilities, but had absolutely no control of it, forcing Terra frequently to sit out missions to watch Coraline and keep her from destroying the whole Tower. Wonder Girl had ultimately made the move and now bore the costumed identity Troia while Speedy gave up that name in favor of Red Arrow, one he felt better suited his talents. As for Beast Boy, who was the interim commander of the Titans, he got frequently saddled with the paperwork and meetings with the Justice League and United Nations, meaning he wasn't at the Tower as long as he used to be. As a result, Kaldur'ahm, Aquaman's second protege joined the team for whenever Beast Boy was unavailable.

With the Titans North team, Starfire remained the leader with Red Star her second in command. In the two years since Raven's disappearance, the alien had finally mastered the English language and spoke the language as a normal human would, and was now working on her Russian. However, her beloved mutant larvae Silkie succumbed to old age and passed on four months ago, and was given a burial in space. Other than battles where he was absolutely necessary, Jericho primarily stayed back at the Tower in order to take care of Kole, as she was sitting out field work for the next year as a result of her pregnancy. Much like Titans East, Titans North gained back-up in the form of Barbara Gordon, also known as Batgirl.

Back at the Titans Central team, the five members - Ravager, Hustler, Kid Flash, Jinx, and Omen continued to search for Raven, but to no avail, believing she had disappeared from the universe as they could not contact her in her Infernal Province, despite every channel they have tried (there weren't that many channels though to contact hell). When Jinx had to be benched for maternity, Raquel Ervin, aka Rocket, joined the team to take her place and left a few months ago for a joint duty assignment as liasion between the Justice League and the United Nations.

* * *

><p>It was a casual morning over at the Titans Central Tower, Ravager, the interim leader, watched the sunrise. She almost always did that, but she seemed to sense that there was something missing, something that had been missing for two years.<p>

As she watched the sun, Kid Flash sped up to his leader, asking, "What's up, Rose?"

"It's been two years, Wallace."

"Ah, Raven."

"I want her back. She was a better leader than I could hope to be."

"Don't get yourself down. You've handled us pretty good for the past two years. We've been through a lot. And we'll persevere."

"We have, but I mean, Raven's the reason I got a second chance to live. If it wasn't for her, Grant and I would be dead, same with Joey."

"Yeah, Raven saved our asses more times than we can count. Hard to believe she's gone."

"She's not dead, but we haven't seen her in a while. She isn't in this dimension, and I'm starting to think she isn't coming back."

"Face it, who could resist ruling hell?"

"Angels. And for the longest time, Raven. I think her emotions were so much more problemaic than she expected, and it's taking her a while."

Before they could continue the conversation, the klaxon alarm rang and the two quickly proceeded to ops, where Hustler, Jinx, and Omen were waiting. Ravager asked, "What is it?"

Omen replied, "Cops found a body inside Wentworth Labs."

Jinx added, "It's a research facility run by Waxel Mechanics. Started up three months ago when they won a coveted contract with STAR Labs."

Ravager ordered, "Let's check it out."

* * *

><p>The five Titans arrived at Wentworth Labs at 8:30 in the morning, which was a relatively small lab, as it was designed only to be used for a short period of time for the Waxel-STAR collaboration.<p>

The police had already taped up the scene, leaving the Titans to investigate the murder. Hustler took a look at the body and commented, "Jesus. Poor bastard's in horrible shape."

Kid Flash asked, "How do you know?"

Hustler put on latex gloves and proceeded to flip over the body, revealing, "It's a man. And from the looks of it, he was brutally tortured and decapitated." Indeed, the body was in terrible shape - the man's head was missing and both of his hands had been removed along with the lower halves of his legs with severe slashing done across the torso. He continued, "African-American, I'd say he was in his late fifties."

Omen walked up to the corpse and placed the liver probe inside of the corpse, remarking, "Looks like he's been dead since midnight. Now, we have to see just what was the fatal wound that killed him." As she continued looking at the body, Ravager asked, "You don't think getting his head chopped off killed him?"

Omen continued, "The decapitation was post-mortem. The other wounds appear to have been made while he was alive, so I'm guessing he died from massive blood loss as a result of the removal of his limbs. Our killer didn't want us to know who the victim was."

Ravager asked, "You think you can get an ID?"

"There's not a lot to work with, but it appears we have a DNA sample." Omen lifted up the deceased's arm and withdrew a sample of bone marrow for DNA analysis.

Jinx took the sample and noted, "Nobody checked in between eleven at night and eight in the morning, so our killer must have come in before then."

Kid Flash swiped the sample from Jinx and added, "But how did he get out?"

The speedster soon pulled out a portable DNA analysis kit and injected the bone marrow sample in. After one minute, the device gave a ding signaling an answer. Ravager asked, "Who is it?"

Upon looking at the results, Kid Flash gulped, "Not good."

Jinx asked her husband, "Who is it?"

He slowly choked out, "Doctor Silas Stone." The other Titans were shocked by that name as Omen pointed out, "Cyborg's father. We're gonna have to tell him that his father's dead."

Shortly afterwards, Hustler came in and added, "And things aren't looking much better. I found the security footage from last night. The cameras were hidden more conspicuously than other facilities, so the killer couldn't find them. For most of the time, the killer obstructed himself from view. But after decapitating Dr. Stone, the killer walks by the camera, and the face is revealed."

Hustler shows the feed to the other Titans, who are absolutely shocked when they discover the identity of their prime suspect.

Ravager muttered, "Raven."

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, my original plan for the story was to have Silas Stone be the victim, making the murder very close to the Titans. And in case you don't remember (or know about) the Cabresa or Waxel Industries, both of those come from my <em>Betrayed, Cast Off, Angry<em> spin-off _Second Chance_ - the Cabresa being the Jump City Mafia that Slade and Raven eliminate while Waxel was the company that developed the second chip X acquires.**

**And remember, I will answer all reviews for this chapter and the remaining chapters in this batch in chapter 5.**


	2. Her Return

**Author's Notes**

Remember that I will respond to all the reviews for this chapter as well as chapters one, three, and four in chapter five.

Now, let's continue the story.

* * *

><p>After watching the security feed provided by Hustler, the Titans were absolutely shocked that the face of Dr. Stone's murderer was that of Raven, their missing teammate.<p>

Kid Flash softly asked, "Do you think Raven would do this? Murder somebody so close to us? What happened?"

Jinx responded, "Hell if I know. But this doesn't make any sense. Why would she show her face on camera? Especially when she knew we'd find the cameras?"

Hustler shrugged, "Maybe she didn't know about the camera placements."

Omen countered, "No, she would have certainly known where the cameras were. It's almost as if she intended for us to see her face."

Ravager added, "Jinx is right. This doesn't make any sense. Still, we need to analyze the doctor's body and what he's been doing. Kid Flash, speak to the operating manager of Wentworth Labs, find out what Silas Stone was working on. It may give us some sort of motive. Omen, we're going back to the Tower to tell Cyborg the bad news and to analyze the body. Hustler, Jinx, stay here and finish processing the scene and analyze Dr. Stone's work station."

The other Titans responded, "Yes, boss."

* * *

><p>Back at Titans Tower, Ravager began setting up a connection to Titans South in order to tell Cyborg the bad news about his father. After a few minutes of getting the transmission to connect, Cyborg appeared on the main screen.<p>

He asked, _"Hey, Rose. What's up?" _Cyborg seemed not despondent at all, as if he was completely unaware of what he was about to be told.

Ravager answered, "Victor, I have some very bad news."

_"What is it?"_

"Your father's dead." The expression on his face screamed shock and horror.

_"No. It can't be. I just spoke to him two days ago."_

"I'm sorry, but he was murdered last night."

_"Murdered? My father, who would kill him? What the hell happened?"_

"We found your father at Wentworth Labs early this morning. He was brutally tortured, had both of his hands and feet cut off as well as a number of slashes on his body. He bled to death and was then decapitated. As for the killer, we're exploring a number of possibilities, but it'll be a while before I have a definitive answer."

Closing the connection, Ravager began to walk downstairs to see what Omen had found of Dr. Stone's body. Before she arrived there, though, she went into the apartment that Kid Flash and Jinx had - it was designed to be big enough for the two of them and two children. It was time to check on Prachi.

The girl, sitting in her crib, had inherited her mother's light pale skin tone and her father's red hair and green eyes. She was a year old now and her powers were starting to develop - she had inherited her father's metabolism, necessitating a lot more food to keep her sustained, as well as her mother's hex ability, though it wasn't as strong as Jinx's, yet. Still, it was bad enough that they had to develop a power-proof crib so Prachi wouldn't accidentally wreck the Tower.

Ravager walked up to the crib and greeted, "Hello, Prachi." The girl giggled at the presence of her "Aunt Rose".

Ravager grabbed the redhead in her arms and gently moved her fingers around the baby's bare stomach, causing her to yawn greatly before falling asleep. Placing Prachi back in her crib, she stared at the child silently for a few moments without a single care in the world.

Suddenly, she was interrupted from her dreamy haze by "Bets it makes you want to have kids, doesn't it?"

Ravager turned around to see Omen standing there, and she walked over to her, saying, "It does, but unfortunately for me..."

Omen continued, "...the serum alters your reproductive system to such a degree that you cannot menstruate. Bottom line, you can't concieve a child because your ovaries are incompatible with any other human being. Only somebody with the serum born in their blood could impregnate you, but no such person does exist."

"Well, at least I have forever to wait. What do you have Omen?"

Omen walked away, and Ravager followed - the two both knew they did not want to discuss the dead body in front of Prachi. The last time they did that, she had nightmares for some time.

Arriving downstairs in the morgue, Omen began to explain, "I finished the autopsy on Dr. Stone. As determined at the crime scene, he was beheaded after he was already dead and that his hands and feet were removed prior to his death. He did die from massive blood loss, with the fatal wound being one to his aorta."

Ravager asked, "I know that. Why did you ask me to follow?"

Omen went up to Doctor Stone's body, and Ravager followed to see a very small point in the side of the deceased's neck. Ravager noted, "He was injected?"

"Paralysis drug. Kept him from fighting back. There was also something special about this drug. Not only did he not feel any pain from the torture, he also was left unable to speak."

"So, what you're telling me Lilith is, our killer didn't brutally torture Silas Stone for information?"

"Yes, Dr. Stone was not attacked for what he knew or what he could do. He was attacked to send us a message."

"Question is, what is the freaking message?"

"And why they would use Raven's face for it?"

* * *

><p>Back at Wentworth Labs, Kid Flash was currently interviewing the operations manager of the lab, Doctor Roman Gladwell, a scientist in his early-40s with black, buzz-cut hair, blue eyes, and fair skin.<p>

Kid Flash asked, "So, Doctor Gladwell, what was the exact purpose of this lab?"

Gladwell replied, "Unfortunately, Mr. Flash, that's classified information. We cannot allow people who have yet to be read into the program to be informed about our doings."

"One of your workers was murdered in here. We will need all of the information about this lab."

"I'm sorry, but I need to speak to my supervisor about that."

"I'd suggest you don't. You'd waste time, and I could easily get the relevant files before you could get permission. So I suggest you talk now."

"Alright then. This lab is working on a top-secret government prototype known as Kale Fountain."

"Something tells me that has nothing to do with fountains or kale."

"Correct. Kale Fountain was a STAR Labs project designed to create a computer virus in order to infect the enemy networks."

"What was Doctor Stone's purpose on this project?"

"He was helping us create a buffer so that Kale Fountain couldn't be used on our own systems. He input a code that nulls the virus if it tries to infect American servers. With it, we could cripple the computer infrastructure of our enemies: Iran, Afghanistan, Bialya, Zandia, Congo." In the past year, the Democratic Republic of Congo had undergone a radical militarization under the reign of a new dictator, ultimately seizing the nation of Congo to become one large Congo nation under the control of the DRC. They advanced their computer network so much they could potentially hack into the United States government's key financial and military systems and cause chaos.

Because of Congo's aggressive actions in Africa, the Young Justice team was often tasked with providing surveillance on Congo's military and sabotaging their key operations. They did not want another aggressor power in the world.

"How far along was this project?"

"We just needed to work out a few more kinks and we'd be ready to show the prototype to the heads of STAR Labs. Unfortunately, with Dr. Stone's death, Waxel Industries is poised to take a significant loss."

"How significant?"

"My boss is projecting the company may lose north of 100 million dollars, which could force us into bankruptcy. That would put over four thousand people out of a job."

"Do you know anybody who would want to sabotage the project?"

"Well, if they wanted to sabotage it, they could have done something other than kill Stone. They could have planted a virus inside of the virus or rewritten the code."

"You didn't answer my question. Who would gain the most from Kale Fountain's failure?"

"Other than our enemies, Benson Electronics. They were the second choice for the contract. If Waxel failed to get it done, the contract would shift over to Benson. They stood to make close to 400 million dollars if they got the contract."

"Okay then. How well do you know Benson Electronics?"

"Well enough. I keep tabs on them because they're our competition. Three months ago, they began hiring meta-human agents as corporate spies."

"Around the time you guys won the STAR contract. Thanks for the information, Doctor Gladwell."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, at the crime scene, Jinx and Hustler were trying to find anything useful that would help them determine if Raven was responsible, or if there was anything that could help them find the killer.<p>

Jinx asked, "Do you think Raven could do this? Do you think the face on camera was hers?"

Hustler answered, "I ran a facial recognition check. It's a one hundred percent match. But, as we know, looks are deceiving."

"I'd definitely consider the possibility a shapeshifter did it to frame her. But why would they go to the trouble of framing Raven?"

"Simple. They pick a person that has disappeared and would be nearly impossible, if not completely impossible to find. Raven fits that description. And until we find her, we won't know if it was her or if she's being framed."

"So, until then, let's keep Stone from finding out that our prime suspect is Raven."

* * *

><p>Back at Titans Tower, Kid Flash had informed Ravager about the possibility of Dr. Stone's death being the result of corporate espionage. So, they began searching for meta-humans that had shapeshifting abilities.<p>

Ravager asked Hustler, "Any suspects yet?"

Hustler replied, "I've checked all recent hires at Benson Electronics. So far, only four are metas."

"Put 'em up on the screen."

Hustler placed all four of the potential suspects and explained, "We've got Derek Albin, who can phase through walls, almost like a teleporter; Jeremy Drago, who can turn invisible; Renee Vail, a hypnotist that can temporarily control people; and Wendell Hurtz, a technopath."

Ravager thought out loud, "None of them are shapeshifters. Did they register their meta-human abilities?"

"Yes. All four of them did." Suddenly catching onto his sister's drift, he realized, "But maybe somebody at Benson didn't. Or they kept it off of the books."

"So, until we know if there is indeed a shapeshifter working at Benson, let's keep our focus on their four possible corporate spies. Based on their abilities, Albin wouldn't be our killer, same with Drago. Just leaves Vail and Hurtz. Now, as a technopath, Hurtz could alter the camera feed to remove his image and plant in the footage of Raven instead."

"And because of his power, we couldn't trace to see if the footage was altered. Looks like he's our prime suspect."

Pulling out her communicator, Ravager called, "Kid Flash, Jinx, bring Wendell Hurtz into custody for questioning."

Kid Flash sped in and asked, "Where is he?"

Checking the recent data for Wendell Hurtz, Hustler found, "He didn't check to work this morning. Unscheduled absence. He did buy a one-way ticket to Qurac. The flight left at two in the morning, touches down in thirty minutes."

"Get the Young Justice team to Qurac and have them extract Hurtz. I need him alive."

* * *

><p>At Happy Harbor, Rhode Island, the Young Justice team was experiencing a period of down time. Miss Martian was currently watching an episode of her favorite sitcom, <em>Hello Megan!, <em>Superboy and Blue Beetle were sparring in the gym, Arrowette was constructing her trick arrows, Robin was playing a game on his computer, and Secret was reading a book.

All of a sudden, they received an alert that they had a priority mission. The six members of Young Justice quickly assembled in the operations room of Mount Justice to see the face of Ravager.

Arrowette asked, "What do you need us for, Rose?"

Ravager answered, "We have a high-priority target that is currently en route to Qurac. We need you to snatch him and return him to Jump so we can interrogate him."

Blue Beetle inquired, "Who is the person? And why do we need to get him?"

She introduced, "This is Wendell Hurtz. He is a person of interest in a Tango level murder investigation." That got the team concerned, as Tango level meant it was one of the Titans that got hit, or someone close to them.

Superboy pondered, "Whose murder?"

Robin replied, "Dr. Stone, Cyborg's dad."

Cissie ordered, "We move out now. Get in the Bio-Ship."

The Bio-Ship was the main mode of transportation for Young Justice - it was Miss Martian's, which was how she got from Mars to Earth. It was capable of becoming invisible and partial shape-shifting, enabling it to create exit holes for the occupants to depart and regenerating damage. It was also able to withstand the pressures of space for limited periods of time, long enough possibly to get from one planet to another.

Still, for today's mission, the ship would prove of utmost use in order to grab Hurtz. The question now was how do they intercept him? Do they snatch and grab him when he gets off of the airplane or do they take him in with stealth when he has far left the airport?

Miss Martian asked the Bio-Ship, "Estimated travel time between here and Qurac."

The Bio-Ship telepathically answered, 'Five hours at maximum speed.'

The telepath said, "It'll take five hours to get there. The flight lands in half an hour."

Blue Beetle noted, "So we're going to have to find him at the airport. We need to delay him as long as possible."

Robin quickly began pulling up the computer mainframe security at the airport. He said, "I'll try to slow him down as long as I can."

The Young Justice team quickly entered the Bio-Ship and took off towards their destination, intending to get there before Hurtz could leave the airport.

Working off of his portable computer, Robin accessed the luggage routing software and announced, "Okay, I've re-routed Mr. Hurtz's luggage to be immediately transferred onto a flight to Cairo. That should buy us at least a few hours."

Superboy added, "Let's hope it'll be enough."

They hoped it would be - once the airplane touched down, Hurtz's luggage was immediately transferred onto the next flight to Cairo, which was set to depart thirty minutes later. It was a four hour flight from Qurac to Cairo, and it would ultimately take an hour for Hurtz to reach the baggage claim.

Once he found his luggage was missing, Hurtz went to the baggage claim representatives to find what happened to his bags. They found a "technical glitch" that sent them to the flight to Cairo, which was now an hour and a half on its way. They promised to have his luggage sent back on the next flight from Cairo to Qurac, so his luggage would be back in about seven to eight hours, which was more than enough time for the Young Justice team to apprehend Hurtz.

They immediately red-flagged the bag on the flight to Cairo to be immediately sent on the next flight back to Qurac, but it would likely take some time before the message could be fully recieved, and they couldn't turn the plane around.

So, while he was forced to wait for his bags, Hurtz began to head for the Congo Embassy, as they could help him get away from the United States. There were no flights from the United States to Congo because of diplomatic issues, so Hurtz simply found the first flight he could get that would bring him to a Congo-friendly nation and that would be Qurac.

The Titans would almost certainly be on his trail, and they often had little issues in the way of jurisdiction. All he could hope for now was that the Titans Tango team would be unable to get through Congo's security and he would be home free.

Unfortunately, he knew nothing about the Young Justice team, which was a widely kept secret, since they were black ops operatives, so the existence of the team was confidential. Only the Titans and the Justice League knew about the team.

It was going to be a long ride to the embassy, which was close to the other side of the country, near Bialya. This was going to be a six hour drive, and he didn't have six hours.

The Bio-Ship arrived at the airport, activating stealth mode as Secret exited to investigate and locate Hurtz. Phasing through walls without getting caught, Secret returned and said, "He is not here. He rented a car to the Congo Embassy."

Getting Secret back in the Bio-Ship, the team quickly headed out towards the car where Hurtz was presently, on his way to Qurac. Nobody else was in the vehicle, so they could afford to get a little aggressive. Unfortunately, they still needed him alive.

Piloting the ship up behind the car, Miss Martian created an opening for Superboy to jump down, and he proceeded to jump onto the engine block, quickly damaging the car as it sputtered to a complete halt.

Noticing the half-Kryptonian looking at him, Hurtz quickly gathered electricity from the car's battery and prepared to send it against Superboy. He didn't get to aim as Superboy tossed him right out of the car and Miss Martian proceeded to induce unconsciousness into Hurtz, placing a temporary power suppressor on his arm, ensuring he couldn't try to use his powers.

* * *

><p>A few hours later, the Young Justice team arrived in Jump City, specifically at Titans Tower. Entering the docking bay, the Bio-Ship let out Arrowette and the still unconscious Hurtz, who headed towards Kid Flash and Omen.<p>

Kid Flash asked, "Is this Mr. Hurtz?"

Arrowette answered, "Yes. Now, let's get back to Happy Harbor." Arrowette hopped back into the Bio-Ship before it took off back to Mount Justice. Now, it was time for the Titans to get some questions answered by Lionel Hurtz.

Placing him in an interrogation room, Hustler, Jinx, and Omen waited behind it as Ravager came in with a vial of smelling salts, placing it underneath the man's nose, causing him to wake up with a startle.

Looking at where he is, Hurtz asked, "Where the hell am I?"

Ravager sat down at the chair across from Hurtz, and began, "Welcome to Titans Tower, Lionel."

Hurtz exclaimed, "I didn't do anything wrong."

Ravager pulled out a folder and from the folder, a picture of Silas Stone's mangled remains. "How about murder, theft, and espionage?"

Hurtz stared at the body and quickly said, "I didn't kill him."

"Prove it. Where were you last night at midnight?"

Hurtz remained silent as Ravager continued, "You bought a ticket to Qurac at four after one this morning, for a flight that would leave less than an hour later. It's almost as if you were running. And with a metahuman of your ability, you'd be hard-pressed not to be in criminal activity, nor out of their eyes."

Hurtz didn't say a word as he stared at the body. "You could have easily manipulated the cameras to make sure it was not your body caught on it, but rather someone else. So, you better have a goddamn good alibi."

Ravager stepped up from her chair and began to walk away from the technopath before he answered, "I was at Benson Electronics."

Turning around, Ravager noted, "You called in sick today at Benson Electronics. Why would we believe you were there at midnight?"

"I was working a late shift which didn't end until just after eleven. I'd have just seven hours of sleep, and I really need my beauty sleep."

"You didn't answer my question. The crime scene is under thirty minutes away from Benson. You could have easily walked there and killed the victim in that amount of time."

Hurtz went quiet again, and Ravager began to walk out the door, commenting, "Hope you like life in prison."

Suddenly, Hurtz explained, "I was at Benson Electronics until twelve thirty. After I punched out at Benson, I snuck away to the downstairs computer mainframe."

Hurtz pulled out a flashdrive from his pocket, adding, "My employers asked me to download some files from Benson, and I knew how Benson was hiring metahumans now, so it was almost a perfect match."

"Who were your employers?"

"The ANR."

Behind the mirror, Hustler gave a puzzled look to Kid Flash, who explained, "Agence Nationale de Renseignements. National Intelligence Agency for Congo. He's a spy, a political one, not a corporate one, but he's not our killer."

* * *

><p>Shortly afterwards, the Titans returned to the ops room to discuss what they knew so far about the case.<p>

Kid Flash started, "Okay, the marshals have Hurtz, who is now going to be facing life imprisonment for treason and espionage since he's an American citizen, but his alibi did check out. He didn't butcher Dr. Stone."

Ravager added, "So that leads us right back to square one. We have Cyborg's dad being murdered in a lab he was working in, the project was of utmost importance to the US government, and Raven's face appeared on camera as the killer. Something definitely isn't right."

Omen noted, "Certainly. The other three metahumans checked out and they couldn't have done the killings. I'm fortunate that we got the security tapes before the police did and saw Raven's face."

Hustler commented, "Another damn mystery. Somebody's sending us a message, but who? Whoever infiltrated the lab could have easily wiped all the camera feeds and left us without any clue, but they didn't. And they had plenty of time to do so. We need to find Raven."

Suddenly, the printer attached to the main computer began to print off a sheet of paper. Jinx went up and read, "According to this, there was a trace of roofing tar on Doctor Stone's body. Whoever killed him must have been hiding out in a factory."

Hustler asked, "Where?"

Jinx continued, "Jolla, the old tar factory that closed down eight years ago. Only tar factory in two hundred miles."

Ravager said, "Good work. Grant, with me. We'll check out the plant. Omen, look for other substances found on Dr. Stone and try to compile a list of locations and common people at all locations recently. Jinx, examine the footage around Wentworth after Doctor Stone's death. Kid Flash, take a peek at the program he was working on. Maybe there was another corporate spy."

* * *

><p>Arriving at Jolla, a tar factory that went out of business back in 2016, the T-Z pulled up to the main entrance of the factory, and the Wilson siblings got out of the vehicle.<p>

Hustler stepped out of the driver's seat and walked to the armory in the back while Ravager followed, katanas wielded on her back. Looking at the weapons, Hustler asked, "Benelli or APC?"

Ravager replied, "Shotgun", and Hustler tossed Ravager a Benelli M4 Super Shotgun which she slung onto her hip, so she could use the shotgun in one hand while the other hand held a katana. Hustler grabbed the Brugger & Thomet APC9 with a red dot sight before closing the T-Z and locking it up securely. In the two years since Raven departed, Cyborg and Hustler had created magazines that could hold much more ammunition than they appeared to - Hustler's APC9 held 200 rounds instead of the factory-issue thirty two and Ravager's M4 had twenty shells instead of six. And there was next to no change in visible weight or size.

They quickly entered the factory, sweeping the floors for any trace of evidence or if there was another person there. It never hurt to be prepared.

As they arrived on the top floor, just about ready to call the building as clear, something began to creak, as if something, or someone was there.

Hustler took aim the APC9 while Ravager readied her shotgun. Ravager shouted, "Come out with your hands up!"

Suddenly, two chairs went flying right at the duo. Ravager blasted the first out with her shotgun, leaving the shattered pieces to fall on the ground. Hustler sawed the other one to shreds with the APC9.

Hustler commanded, "Come out slowly with your hands up or we will fire on you! Do it now!"

When the figure remained silent, Hustler fired a couple of rounds towards the ceiling near their suspected location of the figure. Much to his surprise, the rounds never made it to the roof as they all harmlessly fell to the floor.

Finally, the figure walked out, hands in the air, moving slowly as the two kept their guns pointed at their suspect.

When the suspect uttered, "I understand you've been looking for me", instantly the two knew just who was there.

It was their prime suspect, their former leader who had vanished for the past two years. She had hardly changed, retaining the same slender figure with pale gray skin, white leotard and cloak, purple hair, amethyst eyes, and red chakra gem. There was no question as to who they were looking at now.

Raven.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, Raven has finally showed her face. Remember, I will respond to all reviews for this chapter as well as chapters 1, 3, and 4 in the author's notes section of chapter 5.<strong>


	3. Her Alibi

**Author's Notes**

Remember, I will respond to all reviews for this chapter as well as chapters 1, 2, and 4 in the author's notes for chapter 5.

And with this chapter, I have officially posted more than 500,000 words on this site, and it took less than 18 months of writing. Not that bad.

Now, let's continue the story.

* * *

><p>Ravager and Hustler remained in shock as they stared at Raven, hands in the air. Their prime suspect, one of the most powerful individuals in the universe, was now willingly surrendering herself. Was this some sort of trick? If she was guilty, then she could have easily remained hidden, or at the very least, attacked them. So, what was Raven playing at?<p>

From what they knew about Raven, she was loyal to the Titans and wouldn't betray them. That would contradict the fact her face was on the cameras at the crime scene. They had no idea what to believe anymore, but it was still better to be safe than sorry.

Hustler kept his APC9 aimed at Raven's chest while Ravager let her hand go of her shotgun, pulling out a temporary power suppressor as she kept her katana pointed towards Raven. Raven commented, "Isn't this a little overkill?"

Hustler answered, "Believe me, we don't want to be doing this, but you aren't looking too good, and we've got questions that need answering."

Ravager placed the temporary power suppressor on Raven's arm, rendering her unable to use her powers to escape. Ravager said, "We're bringing you back to the Tower for interrogation." Once the temporary power suppressor was on Raven's arm, Ravager moved her hand back to the Benelli slung on her.

Ravager kept the shotgun aimed at Raven's back in case she tried anything suspicious. While it never hurt to be careful, Ravager knew that Raven wouldn't, making the feeling of aiming a gun at her rather uncomfortable for her.

The Wilson siblings escorted Raven to the T-Z, seating her in the back seat with a pair of handcuffs on her hands, placed behind her back, arms crossed before buckling in her seatbelt. Ravager took the driver's seat while Hustler claimed the shotgun seat.

Ravager pressed the ignition and the T-Z proceeded to head right back to Titans Tower. However, they didn't want the others to know that Raven was back just yet as they were uncertain of Kid Flash and Jinx's reactions. Omen, on the other hand, they would likely need to bring her in because she was the only person who could potentially read Raven.

Finally arriving back at the Tower, Omen met Hustler and Ravager in the garage before proceeding to take Raven up to the interrogation room. Ravager and Hustler, however, had to go up to the ops center to talk with Kid Flash and Jinx about what they had thus far.

Entering the living room, Ravager asked, "What do you have, Wally, Jinx?"

Kid Flash answered, "We checked all remaining employees of Benson Electronics and of Waxel Mechanics. None had particular metahuman abilities, none that were noticeable anyway. I guarantee you that one of them is not our killer."

Hustler asked, "What about employees that were impersonated?"

Jinx added, "Checked them too. All of them checked out. No impersonators, all of them were the originals. That leaves once again our best lead as Raven."

Ravager asked, "Did you find any other substances on Doctor Stone?"

Kid Flash explained, "Other than the tar, we found minute traces of pool chlorine and sulfur. What place nearby has sulfur?"

Hustler realized, "Sulfur is in a match. We're looking for somebody that smoked tobacco, and near a pool."

Jinx noted, "And there's only one pool in town, whether an apartment, gym, or just plain public, that cigarette smoking is allowed near. Blackhead Pool, adults only."

Ravager ordered, "Wally, Jinx, investigate Blackhead Pool and get the security footage."

Kid Flash inquired, "What about Prachi?"

"Omen will watch her. You have to admit she's a damn good babysitter."

With that, Kid Flash and Jinx headed out to investigate Blackhead Pool, leaving Ravager and Hustler to interrogate Raven.

* * *

><p>Raven was calmly sitting in the interrogation room, her hands handcuffed to the table and feet restrained against the chair. The Titans knew that Raven was very dangerous, even without her powers, so such extreme measures were required.<p>

Once Kid Flash and Jinx had left for the pool, Ravager and Hustler proceeded to the interrogation room, where Omen was observing Raven from behind the two-way mirror.

Hustler asked, "What do you see so far, Lil?"

Omen explained, "She's been calm. Almost unnaturally. She's just been waiting and she's been quiet."

Ravager said, "Then let's not let her stay that way." She walked out of observation before heading into the interrogation room, sitting down on the other side of the table. Upon sitting down, Raven noted, "It's about time you arrived."

Ravager began, "Where the hell have you been Raven? You deserted us for two years! And without any warning. What the hell is wrong with you?" As Ravager yelled, she began to notice Raven in the beginning of an emotional breakdown.

Raven was able to muster up, "I've spent the past two years in the Infernal Provinces, trying to get my rage satisfied and under control. There was a lot of carnage down there, more than I ever expected. Hell was at war, and I had to lead my province to victory and not get killed."

"And the result?"

"Most of the other demon Archfiends abandoned their attacks upon defeat. At least two of them met their end at my hand when they refused to stop. However, they will simply bide their time as Neron wants my head. For millennia, he has maintained control over all of the Infernal Provinces with his fellow Archfiend subordinates. When the prophecy was supposed to occur, my father was set to add the Earth to his domain and then set Neron up to acquire the rest of the universe. What neither of them anticipated was the actions of Richard and your father, which resulted in all those plans going to shit upon my slaying of Trigon."

"Giving you control over his Infernal Province, and you are not like your father. Neron hated that."

"Indeed. Neron tried to overthrow me, but he kept failing. I was forced to take more aggressive measures to keep them back. Ultimately, he failed in his endeavors and my territory only grew, to close to three times its original size. Neron's actions weren't out of hatred, but out of fear. I am becoming a controlling power in the Infernal Provinces and Neron believes I could potentially seize control from him one day and rule all of Hell."

"Well, we both know that is definitely possible, as you are immortal."

"Just not invincible. What have I missed in my two years in hell?"

"You missed three weddings, Beast Boy wed Terra and the two have a daughter, Coraline. She has her mother's eyes and powers. Jericho and Kole had their wedding and are currently expecting their first child, and lastly Wally took Jinx's hand in holy matrimony, and the two now have a child of their own, Prachi."

"In honor of Jinx's Asian heritage."

"The Justice League set up a liaison team with us, the Young Justice team. Green Arrow's sidekick Arrowette leads the team with Superboy, Miss Martian, Secret, Blue Beetle, and Robin as members."

"Robin? I thought I killed him over five years ago."

"Not Richard Grayson. Batman got a new Robin. We have yet to see if he will turn out like his predecessor. I suppose we're only fortunate that the media never reported Robin was Claw."

"I missed so much. Oh Azar, why? Why didn't I return sooner?"

"I don't know, but I think we need to know why you are here now."

"Just because I was not in this dimension does not mean I have been ignorant to what was going on. I heard about Cyborg's father."

"And then you must know that you are currently the prime suspect in the case. We have security footage of you after brutally killing him last night."

"Then something is definitely up. I did not kill Silas Stone. And hell, even if I did, I wouldn't be on camera. Not that I would kill him."

"Why?"

"I am a lot of things. A demon, an Archfiend, a Titan, but the one thing I refuse to be is a murderer. I already have six human lives on my hands. Richard Grayson, Brother Blood, Erik the Pirate, General Immortus, Madame Rouge and your father. But, I fear I already have crossed that line years earlier with the Brotherhood of Evil slaughter. I wasn't in my right mind at the time and I just went for as much bloodshed as possible, not thinking of the consequences. I...I...I know what I did was wrong, but part of me just refuses to regret it, knowing their crimes and what they were going to do. I had to stop it, but looking back, I could have handled it better."

"To be perfectly honest, I _want_ to believe you, and from that argument, it seems highly logical that this is a set-up. But, I can't help thinking that his death was meant as some sort of message that you've returned."

"I wasn't entirely sure I would be returning until this morning. Despite everything I have tried, the emotional volatility that's been present in my head for the past two years has yet to subside."

"Well, you aren't going to be charged with the death of Erik the Pirate. That was self-defense. However, I haven't the foggiest idea about the case with Dr. Stone."

"I learned about Dr. Stone's death roughly an hour after you did and from that, I also found out that I was the prime suspect. So, I knew I had to come back to at least sort this thing out, but the rest of it, I still am trying to figure out. The key part being whether or not I will come back to the Titans, whether I will stay."

"Why did you choose to appear in the tar factory?"

"I needed to appear in the right place, and I knew you and Grant would be inspecting it. That was the right place."

"Were you crazy, Raven? You could have been killed! And why did you attack us?"

"I wasn't. I was trying to keep the two of you from leaving. And I had a shield up the entire time you guys were facing me."

"Why would somebody want to frame you for his death?"

"I have no idea. Almost everybody knows of my departure. Nobody knows about my return. Maybe somebody forgot I left and decided to set me up, I don't know!"

Shortly after that, Ravager walked out of the room, and Hustler and Omen met up just outside of the room.

Ravager asked, "Grant, Lilith, what do you believe?"

Hustler answered, "Raven is very convincing at the very least. Not entirely sure about her story. There's no way she could have found out about the tar factory so fast. I doubt she knew we were coming."

Omen countered, "From what I saw, Raven is in emotional turmoil. She hasn't been able to solve her problems regarding just what happened with Erik the Pirate and why they got loose. She isn't in the right emotional state to commit murder, especially this murder and I do believe the psychological toll that a murder would cause. Demons are known killers and if Raven wanted to stray away from that part of her heritage, should would not kill in cold blood. She would only kill if she was in a life or death situation, which unfortunately she has been in."

Ravager commented, "Omen, keep watching her. See if there's any change in her personality. Raven's been gone for two years, and I honestly am not sure how much, or if she's changed. I don't want to be blindsided if her demon has taken control of her."

From inside the interrogation room, Raven yells, "I can hear you."

The three quiet down as Omen goes back in observation to watch her mentor while Ravager and Hustler return to the ops room.

* * *

><p>Over at Blackhead Pool downtown, Kid Flash and Jinx arrived to find there was a massive crowd present - apparently, people really wanted to smoke when they went swimming, something that utterly confused the duo, seeing how fire and water never went well together.<p>

Before they went in, Kid Flash handed Jinx a mask, saying, "Trust me, you'll need it." Jinx put on the mask, effectively ensuring she could breathe easier against the tobacco influx - Jinx's metahuman traits, while giving her hex abilities and increased athletics and stamina, did make her lungs far more sensitive to smoke and ash, so smoking was forbidden in the Tower. Ravager had made sure that Kid Flash kept masks on him at all times for Jinx and thanks to Hustler and Cyborg, the masks filtered out all tobacco and enabled her to breathe as if the air was clean.

After all, Ravager wanted as few people to know about Raven's return - the fewer the better, at least until they figured out everything around her supposed guilt.

Walking into the Blackhead Pool, Kid Flash was soon overwhelmed by the large amounts of scantily-clad females in the pool, almost taunting him. Before he could be put too far off course, Jinx grabbed him by his collar and remarked, "We're not here to ogle them, Kid. And besides, you're off the market remember?"

Kid Flash answered, "I know. Now, we have to find the owner of Blackhead Pool."

Walking up to one of the employees, Jinx asked, "Hey, do you know where the owner of the pool is?"

The employee said, "The original owner died eight weeks ago, but I can get the new owner and manager to speak with you."

"That's fine."

The employee proceeded to head off to the manager's office and Kid Flash and Jinx followed him there, intending to make sure that he doesn't run away. Arriving at the manager's office, the employee knocked on the door. The manager opened up and saw Kid Flash and Jinx there. He inquired, "What do you want?"

Opening the door further, the manager allowed Kid Flash and Jinx to enter his office. Jinx asked, "So, you're the manager, Mr. Bill McCain."

McCain replied, "I am, Titans. What the hell do you want?"

Kid Flash noted, "We believe that a killer we are looking for may have spent some time recently here."

"A lot of people spend time here. What makes you think I'd know a damn thing? And what makes you think that this is the place?"

"On our victim, we found traces of tar and chlorine. This would be the best place to start, as it is the only pool in town where smoking is allowed."

"So, are you going to assume that I did it? 'Cause I didn't. Been here the past thirty-six hours as my assistant manager hasn't shown up. I got at least seventy witnesses to vouch for my whereabouts."

"Who is your assistant manager?"

"His name is Keith Jones. Lives in an apartment building in the suburbs. He hasn't shown up for his last shift."

"When was his last shift?"

"I last saw him three days ago, Mrs. Flash."

"And we're going to need your security footage. Somebody was here before they committed the crime. And judging by the amount of the residue, they were definitely here sometime yesterday."

"Give me a minute to get it for you."

McCain walked away from Kid Flash and Jinx as he headed up to the security footage in order to get a copy of the tape for them. The sooner they were out of his place, the better business would be for him.

Ejecting the videotapes, McCain handed them off to Kid Flash and Jinx, as well as a card containing Keith Jones's address.

Kid Flash noted, "Thanks, Mr. McCain."

McCain then added, "Now, would you please get the hell out of here. You're killing my business!"

With that, the two proceeded to head out of Blackhead Pool. Once they were a safe distance away from the pool, Jinx removed her mask and was able to breathe better. Jinx remarked, "Good riddance. I really hate that place! Now, we should check out Jones's apartment."

Kid Flash decided, "I'll tell Ravager and give her the tapes. Then, we'll go to his apartment."

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, after Kid Flash had handed Ravager the tapes from Blackhead Pool and went back to investigate Jones's apartment. Now, Ravager and Hustler were analyzing the tapes to see if there was their killer had been to the pool.<p>

As they watched through the footage, Ravager began to think, "Dr. Stone had traces of roof tar on him, so that would put Raven as a suspect. However, Raven wasn't near a pool if her story holds true, so the chlorine would be questionable and then Dr. Stone's body isn't on these tapes. I don't think he was at a pool."

Hustler noted, "We've got too many questions and not enough answers. No roof tar was found to be leaking, not that Blackhead used roof tar. The only explanation I can think of is that somebody was smoking roof tar."

Ravager looked at him skeptically and asked, "Who in their right minds would smoke roof tar?"

Hustler answered, "Better question, sis, would be who makes tobacco with roof tar? We'll need to get some cigarettes and analyze them. But not smoke them, test their chemical breakdown to see which one has our ingredient du jour."

"Then we cross check the purchasers of that particular brand against those who were at Blackhead Pool. I'll tell Wally and Nirupama to look for tobacco in Jones's place. If they find some, we could check it to see if there is roof tar and potentially narrow down our suspects."

* * *

><p>Over at Keith Jones's apartment, Kid Flash and Jinx walked up to the door, and the speedster vibrated his molecules to go through the door before unlocking it and opening it for his wife.<p>

The two closed the door before placing latex gloves on to ensure there is no compromised evidence. Walking over to a table, Kid Flash saw an ashtray with several cigarette butts. He sardonically commented, "Guess we can check to see if Jones smoked roof tar."

Jinx walked through the rest of the apartment and then noted, "Emphasis on smoked. I don't think Jones is going to be answering any questions anytime soon."

Kid Flash sped over to Jinx and saw the body of Keith Jones, unmoving as it lay against his bed. Heading over to the body, Kid Flash began to explain, "Judging by the level of rigor, I'd say Jones has been dead for about two days. As for the cause of death, based on these bruises on his neck, I'd say he was strangled from behind. Ambushed, possibly by someone he knew."

"Or by somebody he didn't see. If Raven did this, I doubt she'd go with strangulation. She would likely leave much of a trace as these bruises indicate it was done manually."

"Call Omen and we'll see if our hunches were correct."

* * *

><p>About ten minutes later, Jones's body was brought over to the Tower for Omen to perform her autopsy. Hopefully, Omen could shed some light on what had been going on and on what had happened to Jones.<p>

An hour after Omen received the body, Hustler came down to check on her work, leaving Ravager to keep watch over Raven. Fortunately, Kid Flash and Jinx were still processing Jones's apartment, so neither of them would stumble onto the interrogation room.

Hustler asked, "So, Lilith, what's the story with this guy?"

Omen explained, "Wally was correct. Keith Jones died from asphixiation as a result of being strangled. Based on the bruising on Jones's neck, it only took the killer about a minute to kill him, and without too much pressure, either."

"It'd take most people at least two minutes, with much more pressure to strangle a normal person. How is that possible?"

Omen beckoned Hustler to come closer, and he saw the answer to his question - Jones's pitch black lungs as Omen explained, "Jones was a heavy smoker, usually smoking at least a pack or two a day of his brand. I also got a result back on the cigarette butts, and Jones's brand, Elipson, indeed used roof tar in their product."

"So, once we finish this case, our next one will be going after Elipson for using roof tar in their tobacco."

"Indeed, though that will likely be very messy. But back to this case, the cigarettes Jones was smoking were weakening his lungs, making them require far more oxygen than normal. At this rate, he would have been dead in a month had he not been murdered. As a result, his lungs were weakened enough so a strangulation could be done much easier and faster than normal. Not enough oxygen got into his system."

"Did Jones know about his ailment?"

"Based on the level of tobacco he was smoking, I'm willing to bet he got suspicious. He was scheduled for a doctor's appointment tomorrow to confirm his suspicions."

"Why was he killed?"

"He must have known something that our killer didn't want us to know. And unfortunately, if Raven's alibi doesn't hold, she could have definitely killed Jones."

"But what the hell made Jones so special? Why would somebody kill him? Why would somebody use him? A man who only had a month left to live?"

"He must have been hiding something. What, I'll leave you to speculate."

* * *

><p>After checking on Omen, Hustler walked over to the interrogation room and took Ravager's place in observation so she could continue working on the security footage retrieved from Blackhead Pool, cross-referencing everybody present with recent purchases of Elipson cigarettes.<p>

Continuing to go through the camera footage, Ravager was surprised by the arrival of Kid Flash and Jinx who had finished processing Jones's apartment. Upon their arrival, Ravager asked, "You find out anything about our new victim?"

Kid Flash explained, "Yes. Keith Jones, age thirty-four, was a chronic smoker, specifically smoking Elipson, which receipts indicate he has been using for three years."

Ravager added, "And from what Omen has determined, Jones had maybe a month to live because of his habit, particularly because Elipson used roof tar in their cigarettes. They were weakening his lungs."

Jinx noted, "Jones was working two jobs. Most of the time, he was assistant manager at Blackhead Pool. He started there about four years ago, got promoted two years later. His other job was as a freelance electronic door repairman."

"Electronic door? You think he worked at Wentworth Labs?"

"Yes. He was at Wentworth Labs a week before repairing the electronic keypad. What do you think, boss?"

"Jinx, I think that Jones was hired to plant a virus in the keypad so whoever killed him could get inside with a minimum of fuss.

"And then, his employer killed him so they didn't have to pay him. Not that it would have mattered particularly given the fact he had a month to live."

"Run Jones's contact history. Find any common people he was in contact with and check his bank accounts for any unusual deposits. And compare them to people found on camera at Blackhead Pool."

As Ravager walked away, Jinx asked her husband, "You think she's hiding something?"

Kid Flash answered, "Of course. Just don't know what. She may be personally invested in the case, something she doesn't want us to know."

"Let's not ask her about it unless we are sure of what exactly it may be."

As the two began running down Jones's phone records and bank statements, something caught Kid Flash's attention and he began looking at it, discovering video feed that was taken very recently.

Shocked by it, Kid Flash uploaded the feed to a nearby tablet so he could show Ravager. Catching up to Ravager, Kid Flash began to explain, "Boss, you're gonna want to see this."

Ravager inquired, "What is it, Wally?"

"This footage was captured twelve minutes ago." He played the footage to Ravager, showing what looked like Raven shooting a man at close range before staring at the camera and shooting it.

Kid Flash continued, "Raven just killed a guy and took out the camera. Guess that's our proof Raven killed Doctor Stone."

Ravager, shocked, began to counter, "That's not possible."

Kid Flash asked, "What the hell do you mean that is not possible? Raven's face is on camera killing a person!"

"That's not possible because Raven's been in the interrogation room for the past four hours."

Kid Flash obviously didn't believe Ravager, so she took him into observation, where Hustler was observing Raven, still sitting in her chair. Kid Flash said, "Yep, that's Raven."

Hustler asked Ravager, "Why'd you bring him here?"

Ravager answered, "Because he found footage of Raven killing somebody twelve minutes ago."

"I've been watching her for the past half hour and she has a temporary power suppressor on, as well as handcuffs. No way she could have left. Which means her alibi holds up."

Ravager surmised, "Raven did not kill Silas Stone. Which means somebody framed her for the crime."

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, Raven's been vindicated for Dr. Stone's death. Question is: who did it? That answer will come later on in the story as well as the motive, and there is much more story to come.<strong>

And remember, I will respond to all reviews for chapters 1-4 in the author's notes section of chapter 5.


	4. Her Welcome

**Author's Notes**

Remember, I will respond to all reviews for this chapter as well as chapters 1, 2, and 3 in the author's notes for chapter 5. This is the last chapter of the first batch - chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8 will comprise the next batch.

Now, let's continue the story.

* * *

><p>After realizing that Raven indeed was not the killer of Dr. Stone, Hustler proceeded into the interrogation room, where Raven remained seated. Upon his arrival, Raven asked, "So, did you find me innocent or guilty, or have you still no clue?"<p>

Hustler answered, "Security footage has you killing a man less than twenty minutes ago. However, I've been observing you for half an hour, so I know that you did not do it. And thus, I am certain you did not kill Silas Stone. However, the fact you did not kill him brings us back to our question of who killed him, and the new question of who framed you."

"That'd be an awful long list, unfortunately."

"So we better get to work."

With that, Hustler proceeded to uncuff Raven and removed the restraints placed on her before removing the temporary power suppressor on her arm. Raven followed Hustler as the two left the interrogation room and headed to ops, where Jinx was currently working on the security camera footage from Blackhead Pool. Upon seeing Raven walk into the living room, Jinx asked, "Shit! Is that really you, boss?"

Raven responded, "Yes, Nirupama, it is me. I'm back."

Raven was followed by Hustler who explained, "And she isn't our killer. Somebody set her up as the killer, but we've got no idea who. The level of facial recognition is a perfect match, so we have to be looking for a shape-shifter."

"But which one? There are a lot of them and not all of them are known."

"Then we better get to work."

Shortly after Jinx went to begin searching for shapeshifters, Ravager came in and asked Raven, "Raven, can I talk to you in private?"

Raven replied, "Sure." She walked away from Jinx and Hustler to speak with the interim leader of the team. Now in private, Raven asked, "So, Ravager, what is this about?"

Ravager answered, "It's about you and this case. You were the prime suspect and somebody is trying to set you up for double homicide. I think that it'd be for the best that you sit this case out. Until we find out who is responsible, then you can return as head of the Titans."

"I can't, Rose. I'm not sitting this out. I spent two years away and I have to return."

"That's part of the issue. The world has changed quite a bit in the past two years, you know that. The world you knew isn't exactly the same as the world it is now. That's why you need to sit this out. Frankly, I'm not sure at the moment you are ready to return."

"You don't think I can handle it, can you?"

"I know you're fully capable of the job, normally. But this case, it's just way too personal for yo...no, it's personal for all of us. Cyborg is one of us, and his father was the killer. This is very personal for us, not just because of how close the crime hit to home, but also that you were the one set up as the killer. Thank God that we even got that tape with your face before the police did."

"Fine, I'll sit the case out. But next case, I'll take point."

"That I can agree with."

Raven proceeded to walk away from Ravager, only for Ravager to follow her back to the ops room. Jinx asked Ravager, "So?"

Ravager explained, "Raven's off active duty until the Silas Stone case is solved. Then, I'll hand over leadership back to her. So, anybody else smoke the roof tar cigarettes?"

Jinx answered, "A considerable number of people. About three hundred people bought at least one pack of Elipson cigarettes in the past two weeks. However, we have found one person that stands out." After pulling up a picture of Doctor Roman Gladwell, Jinx continued, "Look familiar?"

Ravager muttered, "Gladwell. Tell Wally to pick him up and bring him in for interrogation. He's got a lot of questions up ahead for him."

Jinx replied, "Will do, boss." With that, Jinx went off to tell her husband that they need to pick up Doctor Gladwell from Wentworth Labs.

Ravager soon went off towards the interrogation room, where she would wait to question their new suspect. This was becoming a very wide-reaching conspiracy, and they had no idea who the hell they could trust.

However, that wasn't what Ravager then had on her mind. What she started to think about, though, was the resurrection of herself, Grant, and Joseph.

It had come more than two months after their original deaths - Rose and Joseph's at the hand of Claw, and Grant's at the hand of Zatanna. Because of the Diamond of Detriba's properties, the three's souls did not leave the plane of existence but rather transferred into a pocket dimension inside the diamond. Their souls could not escape on their own, they needed the diamond to come into contact with a massive amount of energy (which was Raven's chakra gem), and even then, the ritual could not be completed unless Slade was dead.

After their resurrection, all three knew that their father was dead, since he was the one that touched the stone to their bodies, thereby putting a piece of their souls inside of both the diamond and into himself. Slade's death was necessary to release that portion of their souls, thereby making the resurrection possible. Had Slade tried to perform the resurrection himself, the failure would have destroyed the Diamond of Detriba, thereby sending their souls to the afterlife with no possibility of resurrection.

Their brief experience out of their bodies had almost completely changed Grant and Rose, for they now knew what death was like, as did Joseph, but his mutant ability (possessing people) resulted in much less of a change in him. The two both tried to abstain from killing whenever they could, and most of the time, it did work, well tying into the policy of the Titans (and the League) of no killing. However, there did come times where they found themselves having to kill, most notably the raid on the PRA base.

When they did end somebody's life, it struck them hard as they could watch the souls literally exiting the body, splitting the astral form from the flesh form, and thereby the soul vanished, either ascending into heaven or descending into the underworld. In addition, if they did have to kill, they would try for quick kills as slow kills were much harder on them, having to watch as the soul slowly split apart from the body. So, they also frequently went for flesh wounds, like to the arm or leg, wounds that would slow down or disarm the bad guys without killing them. This also resulted in their distaste for higher-caliber weaponry - they refused to use anything higher than a .338 Lapua in terms of bullets, a 12 gauge in terms of shotgun loads, or a 40mm grenade in terms of explosives.

As for how their bodies appeared, seeing how they were buried in Pennsylvania whereas they were revived in Saudi Arabia - they didn't. The Diamond of Detriba literally reconstructed their bodies, removing the wounds that plagued their bodies - they wouldn't have been able to survive too long if their original bodies were the ones used - their original bodies were subsequently changed (in terms of facial construction) so they looked nothing like Rose, Grant, or Joseph - three random long-dead people that nobody would have found inside of the graves.

As Ravager finished thinking about how her second chance at life changed her, she did not notice Kid Flash as he brought in a handcuffed Doctor Gladwell into the interrogation room. He noted, "Uh, boss, Doctor Gladwell is here."

Ravager, finally realizing it was time to interrogate the doctor, said, "Okay then." Kid Flash sped out, leaving Ravager and Doctor Gladwell in the interrogation room.

The doctor asked, "May I please ask why the hell I am in interrogation?"

Ravager grabbed a nearby folder and showed him a picture of himself near Keith Jones at Blackhead Pool. She asked, "You know this man?"

Gladwell denied, "No." Despite his outer confidence, Ravager knew that Gladwell was nervous and lying.

"He fixed the electronic door pad at Wentworth Labs recently. And you personally were responsible for the transfer of funds."

"What are you alleging? That I had him kill Silas Stone?"

Ravager then pulled up a picture of Jones's body. "Keith Jones was killed two days ago. The money never reached Jones's account."

"First, you accused me of fraud? Then, of murder and now more fraud? What is going on in your goddamn mind?"

"I think that Jones introduced you to Elipson cigarettes and you got addicted."

"Fine. I met Jones at Blackhead Pool two weeks ago. He gave me one of his cigarettes to try and I got hooked. We bonded over them and I then offered him the job of repairing the keypad. So, that does not make me a killer!"

"Three days ago, you ran a chemical analysis on Elipson cigarettes."

"That I didn't get back yet. I was supposed to get them tomorrow."

"Well, you don't need those results. Elipson uses roof tar in their tobacco. Jones was smoking it for three years. His lungs were pitch black, didn't have much more than a month to live. It also made it much easier for whoever killed him to do so - just sixty seconds of applying pressure to his throat and he was strangled."

"Roof tar? You mean Jones addicted me to something worse than tobacco? Son of a bitch!"

"Well, if makes you feel better, Jones didn't know about the roof tar either, but he was getting suspicious. And based on your intake, you've reduced your life about nine years. Anyway, where were you two days ago?"

"I was working an extended shift at Wentworth Labs. Spent thirty-three hours there trying to make sure everything regarding Kale Fountain was functioning properly. A government contract doesn't pay off if you give them a defective product."

Behind the glass, Omen and Kid Flash were watching the interrogation, seeing if Gladwell was telling the truth about the case and seeing if he killed Keith Jones or Silas Stone.

Kid Flash asked, "What do you think, Lil?"

Omen explained, "Gladwell did not kill Keith Jones. He was genuinely surprised when the money was said to never have reached his account."

"You know what that means?"

"A conspiracy. Somebody who knew Wentworth's account information stopped the transfer of funds to Jones's account."

"Let's check the people listed under Wentworth's bank account to see who stopped the payment."

* * *

><p>While Ravager was interrogating Gladwell with Omen and Kid Flash watching, and Hustler running down leads to find potential shapeshifters, Jinx took Raven to meet her daughter, Prachi.<p>

Walking into the nursery, Jinx said, "Raven, I'd like to introduce you to Prachi Iris West." Raven inched up closer to Prachi, who stirred quietly in her crib, almost asleep. Raven noted, "She certainly looks like her mother and her father."

Jinx replied softly, "Indeed she does. She also has the metahuman traits of her parents. My hexes and Wally's metabolism. Certainly helped me lose my birthing weight much faster than normal."

Raven slowly picked up Prachi from her crib, cradling her in her arms, staring at the sleeping child's face. Raven lamented, "This is probably the closest I'll come to having a kid of my own."

Jinx added, "I know, you mentioned the fact you don't have any eggs five years ago. At that breakfast following the night you and Slade saved me and Kid from Claw and Zatanna."

"You still remember? After all this time?"

"I never forgot and I am extremely grateful. That was the final straw, the key turning point that made me decide to become a Titan. None of this would have been possible without you. I take it you didn't either."

"Half-demon, Jinx. I'm fully sentient and I remember everything. Both a blessing and a curse as there is a lot I don't want to remember."

"Well, if you didn't know, you're not the only girl around here with a unique reproductive system, Ravager..."

"Has blood so different she is biologically incompatible with almost everybody on Earth. Unless somebody also had the super-serum in their blood."

Suddenly, Prachi began to wake up and noticed the unfamiliar face - the gray skin, the chakra gem, and purple hair. She had never seen it before and was getting ready to scream in panic. Jinx knew that if Prachi panicked, her powers would wreck everything in sight. They were not having that happen again, so Jinx gently grabbed Prachi from Raven's arms.

Jinx calmly whispered into Prachi's ear, saying, "Prachi, I'd like you to meet Raven, an old friend of mine."

Lightly spreading her finger across Prachi's chin, the infant calmed down so much so, no longer nervous of Raven. This trick certainly came useful, after taking some time to fully discover and hone, enabling Jinx to help introduce Prachi to strangers, much like Raven was now.

Prachi started to giggle slightly at Raven's appearance.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, back in the ops room, Hustler was working on running down leads as his sister joined him asking, "Any luck on finding who our killer is?"<p>

Hustler replied, "From what I've found, there are several dozen shapeshifters across the globe, and those are just the registered ones. Could be an even higher number. It'll be a while before we can figure out just who is the one we're looking for."

Before Hustler could go back to what he was doing, they were getting signaled that somebody wanted to conference them. Ravager walked up to the screen and pressed the accept call button, only to find that perhaps she didn't want to answer that call.

On the screen was a very _irate_ Cyborg, though that was a bit of an understatement - he was absolutely furious as he began to yell, _"When the hell were you going to tell me?"_

Ravager, trying to feign innocence (and knowing full well what it was Cyborg knew they withheld), asked, "Tell you what? We still haven't found your father's killer yet."

_"When were you going to tell me that your prime suspect is _Raven_? That my old teammate murdered my father in cold blood!"_

Hustler pondered, "Why do you think that?" Much like Ravager, Hustler tried to appear that he didn't know about what Cyborg was talking about, but the charade failed to hold.

_"I checked the camera feeds at Wentworth Labs. There was a significant portion of the tapes missing - the time of my dad's death, so I checked the Tower for the video feed and here were are. Now, when were you going to tell me?"_

Realizing that they couldn't conceal the truth much farther, Ravager explained, "Once we knew if Raven was the killer. She had been gone for two years, and we couldn't figure out a reason she would kill your father. And Raven didn't kill your father."

_"How can you tell me that? You have her face on camera!"_

"We took Raven into custody a few hours ago and in that time, _'Raven'_ killed someone else on camera. There's no way Raven could have committed the second murder and therefore, I'm certain that Raven did not kill your father. Somebody is trying to set her up for murder and from what we know, it's a shapeshifter. We've got a lot of possible motives - corporate espionage, political espionage, personal, we have no clue why he was killed, but we are sure it was to send some sort of message as he was fed some sort of paralytic substance that prevented him from speaking or feeling pain."

_"I guess that you're partially right, there could be any number of motives, but why did it have to be my father?"_

"Your identity is public knowledge, so they can figure out your dad's identity too. It was designed to be a murder close to us, as the killer probably couldn't get to one of us personally. We need time to figure this whole thing out, so could you please stay calm?"

_"Okay, I'll try to remain objective through this whole thing. Just don't expect me to talk with Raven for a while."_

Cyborg ended the transmission, leaving Ravager and Hustler alone in the ops center. Cyborg now knew that Raven was a person of interest (and that she had returned), so it was now a matter of time before more members of the Titans knew.

Hustler commented, "Well, things aren't going to be pretty for a while now, aren't they?"

Ravager remarked, "Yeah, I bet this is going to have some pretty nasty effects for some time. But, first, let's resolve this case. We need to find who killed Doctor Silas Stone."

"And let's not forget our other victim, Keith Jones. And the person Raven was _'caught'_ killing an hour ago. Who was he?"

Hustler began pulling up the data on their newest victim, saying, "Meet Leon Wade, age forty-four. He was formerly a top officer in San Diego until he was accused of racial profiling ten months ago and stepped down as a result of his tarnished reputation."

"So, what was Wade doing in Jump?"

"Leon Wade got a job at the Museum of Supernatural History and Lore a few miles outside of town. He was the night guard for the past seven months."

"I already contacted the JCPD, they're sending Omen the body. Preliminary cause of death fits the video we received. Two gunshot wounds to Wade's chest."

"What are the odds that we find Elipson cigarette residue on Wade's body?"

* * *

><p>About two hours later, Ravager and Jinx walked down to the morgue, where Omen was finishing up her autopsy on Leon Wade, their new murder victim and at least the third kill done by the shapeshifter that was setting up Raven. Hustler was working on Wentworth Labs's bank records to see if Gladwell stopped the payment to Jones, Raven was currently observing Gladwell, and Kid Flash was back with his daughter Prachi, watching her.<p>

Jinx inquired, "So, Lil, what have you got on Mr. Wade here?"

Omen explained, "The preliminary cause of death was accurate. Wade was shot twice at about seventy feet away. Both shots were fatal, hit him in the heart. Couldn't last much longer than ten seconds."

Jinx walked over to Wade's clothing, which had been removed just before his autopsy and noticed one article of clothing Wade had worn, asking, "Wasn't Wade wearing a vest?"

Omen replied, "He was. The bullets were armor-piercing rounds, high-caliber ones to. I don't know that much about guns but I think you're looking for a Desert Eagle. The only weapon that could have fired the .50-caliber bullets that penetrated Wade."

Ravager wondered, "Anything else that you found? Anything that links Wade with this case?"

Omen answered, "I found residue from Elipson cigarettes on Wade's shoes. Our killer smoked Elipson, so did Jones. This isn't a coincidence. All three were killed by the same person."

"The question is who the hell killed them."

"And then, what's the connection. Look, we've got the assistant manager at an adult pool, a top-ranking scientist, and a museum night guard. The only connection I can see is that they were killed by somebody that smoked Elipson cigarettes. Other than that, the three share no common link. Stone and Jones each did some work at Wentworth Labs, but Wade didn't."

"You're right, Jinx. These are three connected unconnected cases, each with a different method of killing. Dr. Stone was sliced until he bled to death, Jones was suffocated, and Wade was shot."

* * *

><p>The next day came following a very long day for the Titans Central - Raven suddenly reappeared after she was accused of killing Dr. Silas Stone, Cyborg's father, in cold blood, and then she was vindicated for the same crime and they also found two more victims from presumably the same killer.<p>

Indeed, this was becoming a very intense case for the team and already the papers had started to discuss the case, with the headline being **"Father of a Titan Dead: Can the Titans Protect** **Us?"**, with the main topic being whether or not the Titans could protect those closest to them, let alone the city by bringing up Dr. Stone. Fortunately, for the team, Raven's reappearance (and her being their initial suspect) was not mentioned in the paper - the fewer people that knew of Raven's return, the better.

They wanted to wait until this case was solved before she officially returned as if it was premature, then the killer may choose a different person to set up for their crimes. Already, they have three bodies and the odds were certain that the body count was going to increase.

After working until two o'clock in the morning, the Titans decided to hit the sack for the day, waking up at around eight o'clock in the morning - they hopefully would catch up on sleep once they caught the killer. The first one up was Raven, who returned to her room for the first time in two years, kept in the same condition it had been left in, per Ravager's request.

Taking a look outside, Raven finally realized just how much Jump City had changed in the two years since her disappearance and now she needed to find out what the city was now like.

However, Raven didn't want anyone to learn of her return, so she slipped out of her leotard and into one of her few civilian outfits. The outfit consisted of a black long-sleeve T-shirt with purple writing spelling, "Dark Angel", which technically was true, a pair of black jeans, purple sneakers with blue socks, a blue hooded sweatshirt, and a holo-ring. Every Titan had at least two holo-rings so they could go out incognito.

With her outfit assembled, Raven placed her communicator in the pocket of her jeans and teleported into a nearby alleyway, unseen by the populace. Maintaining as low a profile as she could, Raven hopped into the streets, following the crowd and bustle to see the new city, almost as if she was a stranger. Well, she was a stranger in a familiar land and now she had to get better accustomed to what she had missed while in the Infernal Provinces.

Walking through the city, Raven saw many of the abandoned skyscrapers had been renovated and given to new companies, resulting in a massive job boom. Much of the grime in the city had also been wiped clean, thanks in no small part to the work of the Titans. It was almost as if a progress boom had struck the city while she was away. This was definitely not the Jump City that Raven had left.

As Raven continued her stroll through the city, she soon came across one of the new features of the city - a hydrogen fuel cell station, where cars could recharge their hydrogen cells. In the past two years, almost everybody in Jump City, the Titans included, had upgraded their cars from gasoline, a resource that was close to running out to the much more available, powerful, and safer hydrogen fuel cells.

However, while the cells on their own were safe, the hydrogen itself remained highly flammable and combustible. As Raven passed by the station, her enhanced hearing detected some sort of trigger, almost as if an explosion was about to go off.

Trusting her instincts, Raven quickly put up a shield around the station as a massive explosion consumed the station. Unfortunately, the explosion actually penetrated Raven's soul-self shield, causing her to fall down onto the ground with some significant burns on her body.

* * *

><p>Back at Titans Tower, Ravager and Hustler watched the aftermath of the fiery explosion at the hydrogen fuel cell station.<p>

Hustler commented, "Raven's in the infirmary, now in a healing trance to heal up the damage from the explosion."

Ravager noted, "She definitely does not want to know about the aftermath of the explosion. Seven dead, another eighty-five in the hospital."

"She put up a shield to block the explosion. How did it still result in seven deaths? Nobody was in the range in front of Raven's shield."

Ravager continued to watch a slow replay of the explosion to see just what had happened, how Raven's soul-self failed to completely block the explosion.

"The attack had to be enhanced. Magical elements. That's the only thing that could result in the explosion penetrating."

"Which means I think we figured out why Silas Stone was killed. It was to send a message."

Ravager concluded, "And to force Raven out of hiding. Whoever killed Doctor Stone wants to kill Raven and they have the means to do so."

* * *

><p><strong>That's the end of the first batch of <em>Her Retribution<em>. In the next batch, Raven gets back in the saddle as the team investigates the explosion and not only finds a motive for the attack on Raven's life but also the reason behind Raven's outburst with Erik the Pirate.**


End file.
